SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
Dave, what type of bolt do you recommend as a dogbone? I'm eager to streamline, and hope to get another bit of pruning in over the next couple of days.
Ropetek Hitch Hiker
- Thread starter PCTREE
- Start date
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Go for it, Sean. At least grade 5 but I like grade 8. I don't have mine with me at the moment ( it's way out in the truck ) so take your HH with you to insure proper size and fit. Use a nylock nut and fender washers and make sure there are no threads under the hitch eye. The bolt grip should stop so that it does not bind or stop the HH and hitch cord from rotating freely. Also remember that locknuts are only meant to be tightened once.
The improvement in performance by losing the top carabiner and pulley is dramatic.
Dave
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Some of the mechanical rope grabs use a nylock nut to secure the cam pin, but I have never seen a caution mention of their only one time use......I have wondered about it though.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
Two minor mentions after using the HH yesterday.
1) a plus of this SRT device, like the unicender, is that it is ready to descend immediately, in all situations. The Rope Wrench had the occasional situation (that is in most situations, it not an issue) where you need to engage the wrench before being able to descend. The situation that comes to mind is when a RW climber were to be resting mid ascent with full weight on the hitch, as the RW is in the disengaged (slack tether) position. Should an emergency arise (hornet nest), the climber will have to get weight off of some hitches in order to break it free.
2) I need to try out some different hitch cord/ rope combos to see what works best. I was still having some trouble getting the right wrap variation on the distel tied with Ice on PI. Consequently, when tailing the rope, I had too much friction for as smooth of tailing as should be possible, and the lower 'biner was getting caught up in the HH, snagged up on the gate of the oval biner. I don't know if a corner trap would be a solution to this, and how well it would work with the way the 'biner gets slipped through the HH. I've recently tried rubber dogbone corner traps, which are not very durable. I have a metal one to try, but haven't yet.
1) a plus of this SRT device, like the unicender, is that it is ready to descend immediately, in all situations. The Rope Wrench had the occasional situation (that is in most situations, it not an issue) where you need to engage the wrench before being able to descend. The situation that comes to mind is when a RW climber were to be resting mid ascent with full weight on the hitch, as the RW is in the disengaged (slack tether) position. Should an emergency arise (hornet nest), the climber will have to get weight off of some hitches in order to break it free.
2) I need to try out some different hitch cord/ rope combos to see what works best. I was still having some trouble getting the right wrap variation on the distel tied with Ice on PI. Consequently, when tailing the rope, I had too much friction for as smooth of tailing as should be possible, and the lower 'biner was getting caught up in the HH, snagged up on the gate of the oval biner. I don't know if a corner trap would be a solution to this, and how well it would work with the way the 'biner gets slipped through the HH. I've recently tried rubber dogbone corner traps, which are not very durable. I have a metal one to try, but haven't yet.
Can you explain what you mean by this, or take a picture. When I advance the Hitch Hiker by hand I will hold onto the lower carabiner and push it up into the HH and hitch so that all three move as one and stay in the same oreintaion to the rope. When on a rope walker ascent or spurring up a stock the lower carabiner folds up against the hitch, pulling the hitch and HH up. In either mod there is no snagging or binding of the carabiner.
I really like the simplicity and ruggedness of this tool.
Dave
PCTREE
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #257
I bought some ICE to try and yes it sure is grabby which is good as you shouldn't go into a free fall however it does make it harder to advance. I also got some 10mm beeline and that stuff seems to work great. Should mention I haven't had time to climb on it yet but I think its going to work good. SST Im going to forward DMC your address so he can send you a dog bone and some 8mm beeline. Ranger I will give you one at the comp.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
I think the dogbone will help a lot.
I think the two biners and pulley make it sloppy with the length of Ice a was using. I will try it tied with shorter legs. dialing in a hitch system is always important. short climb yesterday.
I have some new 8mm bulk beeline and used spliced 8mm (length unknown off the top of my head) beeline. I'll try both.
Look forward to the dogbone! Thanks.
I think the two biners and pulley make it sloppy with the length of Ice a was using. I will try it tied with shorter legs. dialing in a hitch system is always important. short climb yesterday.
I have some new 8mm bulk beeline and used spliced 8mm (length unknown off the top of my head) beeline. I'll try both.
Look forward to the dogbone! Thanks.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
Dave, are you using some sort of bushing on the biner?
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
What's that story, and can that mean using lighter aluminum over steel?
If you go back to post #230 you can see them in the pics. You will still need to use a steel carabiner because of the small contact points on the side plates. The bushings are just some 1/2" by 1/2" chrome spacers I found at the hardware store. They do not seem to make much difference in the way the Hitch Hiker functions but I thought would be a better point of wear than the bolt and carabiner.
Please remember, I am experimenting with things on my particular HH setup. What I do may have no relevance to what Paul ends up producing. I just like to play around with stuff.
Dave
Please remember, I am experimenting with things on my particular HH setup. What I do may have no relevance to what Paul ends up producing. I just like to play around with stuff.
Dave
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
the line exiting the vt to the right... where does it go? Is it just a 2:1 rigged to the HH and a single strand load line?
I feel like the guy in the pic, not sure what i am looking at.
I feel like the guy in the pic, not sure what i am looking at.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
I am more.... "not sure why"..... 
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
I feel like a dog watching television.
Ha.
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
Got it
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
And me, I feel like a dog watching a bone !
I have a big amounts of unread threads and I just discovered this one.
Amazing.
It's exactly what I would like to find to improve my climbing gear.
What a clever idea.
I have a big amounts of unread threads and I just discovered this one.
Amazing.
It's exactly what I would like to find to improve my climbing gear.
What a clever idea.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
We've a lotta cool threads here, brother.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Is that a test of some sort to check gripping power?
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
Rec'd dogbone and beeline from Dave. Thanks! Looking forward to trying. maybe tomorrow.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
I received the dogbone and hitch cord, but unforetunately, it is slightly too tight to fit the upper hole in my prototype. The later versions must be slightly bigger.
I can file the opening slightly to enlarge, with your permission, Paul. If that is okay, what is my best bet with the type of steel that its made from? Bastard file, angle grinder, making sure not to overheat it?
I can file the opening slightly to enlarge, with your permission, Paul. If that is okay, what is my best bet with the type of steel that its made from? Bastard file, angle grinder, making sure not to overheat it?
